Scythrididae

43.004 White-dusted Runner Scythris picaepennis (Haworth, 1828)

Notable B

Similar species:

Forewing: 4.5 to 5.5mm

Habitats: Calcareous grassland and sandy areas.

Habits: The moth is attracted to yellow flowers in the daytime. It occasionally comes to light.

Foodplant: The larva feeds on the leaves and shoots of Common Rock-rose, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil and Wild Thyme. It does this from a web covering most of the foodplant with a silk tube extending into the ground. It pupates in early June within a silk cocoon in the leaf litter.

On the European mainland it has also been recorded feeding on other rock-roses, plantains and Devil's-bit Scabious.